But not for long. Congress has sent a bill, H.R. 5690, to President Bush’s desk that would take them off the list. Among the bill’s co-sponsors is Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, whose office says she’s been working hard with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-North Hollywood, to get it passed. Inclusion on the list has meant that Mandela and members of the ANC have had to obtain a visa waiver under the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to enter the United States.

“Despite his legacy as a hero of the anti-apartheid movement, Nelson Mandela’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and his election as President of South Africa in 1994, Nelson Mandela continues to be included on the United States terrorist watch list due to his leadership and participation with the African National Congress,” Lee said on the House floor last night.